The purpose of the present study is to assist academics and practitioners in supporting and managing digital production innovation projects using managerial controls. The focus is on projects that deliver innovations containing new combinations of physical, digital and/or cyber-physical components, developed to be used within a production system. More specifically, this paper aims to explore the applicability of different managerial controls for managing and supporting digital production innovation projects, i.e. projects that are characterized by high levels of complexity and uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a multiple-case study in which interview data was collected from five digital production innovation projects in two manufacturing firms. The empirical data was used to analyze success factors, challenges and obstacles in different phases of the studied projects, and to connect these to the application of different types of managerial controls.

Findings

The findings provide an increased understanding of who to control, what to control and how to control in digital production innovation projects.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is focused specifically on the perception of managerial controls in digital production innovation projects and has not explicitly focused on manufacturing companies' intended usage of managerial controls. This paper's focus on manufacturing companies with producing customers and on projects developing solutions for their respective customers' production systems also encourages further studies at other companies undergoing a comparable transition. Given the necessary system perspective on managerial controls that is being highlighted, this paper emphasizes further research needs on how firms can also apply managerial controls to support external collaborations.

Practical implications

The results have a number of managerial implications regarding digital production innovation projects. The most prominent findings revealed the importance of giving attention to the managerial controls related to the decision-making process and the involvement from stakeholders outside the organization itself. In particular, it was shown that managerial controls securing a more holistic involvement in the decision-making process should be applied, and that managerial controls suitable for customers and partners need to be developed.

Originality/value

The study is among the first studies to focus on the application and perceived effectiveness of managerial controls in digital production innovation projects. The ways in which managerial controls are applied to collaborations with customers and partners and the ways in which action, cultural and personnel controls are combined and aligned to support the corporate decision-making process particularly stand out as essential for manufacturing companies' Industry 4.0 transition.

In an attempt to remain competitive, manufacturers increasingly offer integrated product-service systems (PSSs). This transition from physical products to PSSs calls for new ways of working, for example in the product development process. However, so far only limited attention has been put on capabilities needed to succeed with PSS innovation in the very early development phases – often referred to as the fuzzy front end (FFE). This article, therefore, has a dual aim: first, to further our understanding of capabilities for PSS innovation in the FFE, and second, to determine how these capabilities are linked to PSS innovation capabilities needed in subsequent development phases. Empirical data were collected from an ongoing industrial project developing an innovative PSS offering in a large manufacturing company. Individuals connected to the project reported major challenges, both experienced in the FFE and anticipated in later phases, which provided valuable information regarding capabilities needed to succeed with the endeavour. Findings reveal four links of PSS innovation capabilities: (1) adapting vocabulary and mental models to PSS, (2) handling the ‘intangible aspect’, (3) bridging organisational structures, and (4) managing new business models. PSS innovation capabilities in the FFE are also found to be of higher order (dynamic) compared to capabilities in later development phases

Digitalization has provided new opportunities for firms in the manufacturing industry but also brought a wide range of new challenges. This paper focuses managerial controls in order to further our understanding in what managers can do in order to manage and support digital innovation projects. More specifically the aim of this paper is to explore the role of managerial controls for digital innovation projects in manufacturing firms. Data has been collected from two manufacturing firms through interviews. The results further our understanding of the consequences of different managerial controls for digital innovation projects. Surprisingly the findings show that digital innovation projects demand more control than regular projects. The results bring a number of managerial implications, 1) there is a need to deliberately use a combination of controls, 2) it is important to use controls also for decision making, both in terms of speed and the ability to make good decisions and 3) there is a need to have controls also for customers and partners.

Although the human problem of managing attention has been identified as a central problem in the management of innovation, limited research has considered how attention is handled by different actors in the various phases of the innovation process. Moreover, more attention and commitment may be needed for radical ideas to succeed, making this type of innovations particularly interesting to study. This study aims to contribute to the literature addressing the development of radical innovations in established companies by focusing on the role of attention for this type of innovations. Based on an in-depth longitudinal case study, this paper provides an account of how attention was handled in such a setting. Interview data was collected from individuals involved in the project at two different points in time – adjacent to the formal start of the development project and close to the launch. Results reveal three attentional streams (‘Providing input & motivation’, ‘Propelling the idea forward’ and ‘Protecting the idea & individuals’) involving different actors during the innovation process. Along with the finding that managers engage in diverting behavior, and their rationales for doing so, this contributes to theory. Lastly, two of the attentional streams identified highlight an organizational-level paradox connected to radical innovation. A paradox that leaves managers in an ambiguous position.

Social networks in organizations have been identified as important both in terms of increasing our understanding of innovation and for organizations to realize innovation outcomes. While previous studies have informed us of the importance of networks for innovation, we know little of how companies intentionally can design and utilize networks to achieve continuous innovation. The aim of this paper is to explore how a network for continuous innovation can be established and managed. A longitudinal case study has been performed using data covering the establishment and subsequent management of a network for supporting continuous innovation, spanning the product management and R&D department of a large multinational company. The results reveal the potential to use intra-organizational networks to invoke organizational pressure conducive for making innovation happen. This pressure is induced by autonomy and self-organizing in the network and consists of reciprocal expectations and demands between the top (management) and the bottom (employees involved in the network) of the organizational hierarchy. Implications for theory and practice are discussed

This paper presents an investigation of how critical situations enabling and hindering the realization of a radical innovation idea in an established and large company are managed. By gaining access to rich data through interviews with key stakeholder associated to a recently launched radical innovation the study is able to bring light to why uncertainties and complexities in a radical innovation project varies over time and how the combination of different novelty dimensions is contributing. The critical situations identified are found to all relate to events or periods when people inside the organization either are or are not convinced about and motivated by the potential and feasibility of the innovation. This observation is emphasizing a need to better understand how the management of internal resistance to radical innovation can be improved. Particularly how, when and what roles, different management functions or other people in the organization play over time.

Previous research in the field of product innovation management has focused on large firms. This is unfortunate because small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have features that clearly distinguish them from their larger counterparts and also play an important role in the global economy. In addition, SMEs often have more varying control of the whole innovation process-from identification of a customer need to delivering customer value-compared to larger companies. This article addresses this research gap by exploring how SMEs with growth ambitions, and varying degree of control, can leverage their innovation process. The article outlines results from a SWOT analysis utilizing data from a multiple case study of eight SMEs. Both 'product owning' companies (with either in-house or outsourced manufacturing) as well as manufacturing industry subcontractors were sampled. The results show indications of the influence of varying degree of control of the innovation process-relating to different phases, how knowledge and competence are considered and being reliant on others-and how SMEs and their offerings can be considered as parts of larger systems.

This study explores how managers’ goal setting can enable individuals to pursue both explorative and exploitative activities, i.e. individual ambidexterity. The study is based on multisource data covering the goal-setting approaches of 28 managers and perceptions of the ambidextrous climate from their departments. The results show that managers prefer different task-goal attributes when setting goals for innovation and operational activities. Innovation goals were more challenging, ambiguous, learning oriented, self-generated, long term, without a specific deadline and non-quantifiable compared to goals set for operational activities. Managers in departments characterized by a high-ambidexterity climate were also inclined to distinguish more between goals set for innovative and operative activities than other departments, particularly for the goal attributes "Attainable versus Challenging" and "Time-bound versus No specific deadline". We can therefore conclude that the way individual goals for innovation and operational activities are set relates to the level of ambidexterity on both individual and departmental levels.

11. Managing the paradox of early production involvement and Innovativeness

Early involvement of production can on the one hand create products better adapted for realization, but on the other hand introduce the risk that incremental adjustments of existing operations and processes is favoured at the expense of more radical ones. The research reported in this paper aims to explore how innovative projectteams manage this paradox of early production involvement and innovativeness. Results show that a number of separation strategies at the micro level in the organization play an important role in practice.

Ideas and concepts are the carriers of innovation, which many regard as a critical source of competitive advantage. At the same time, an initial idea is untested and unrealized, i.e., it is always surrounded by a lack of knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of ideas develop and interact with knowledge, by focusing on remediating activities performed by design teams. Results are based on a retrospective interview study involving respondents from eight projects, all selected for their high degree of innovativeness. The analysis emphasized two types of ideas (product ideas and concept ideas) and three spaces of design knowledge (the why-space, the what-space, and the how-space). The results reveal two possibilities: either the content of the knowledge space differs depending on the type of idea, or different knowledge spaces exist. Moreover, activities conducted to improve the idea have different characteristics depending on the type of idea. It is thus important to distinguish between different types of ideas and to choose corresponding mitigation activities to support idea development.

Social networks and relationships between actors have been identified as important both in terms of increasing our understanding of innovation and for organizations’ to realize innovation outcomes. While previous studies have informed us how knowledge creation in informal network structures can be influenced and managed by subtle management techniques, we know little of how companies intentionally can create and utilize networks for continuous innovation. The aim of this paper is to explore how a network for continuous innovation can be established and managed. A longitudinal case study have been performed using data covering the establishment and subsequent management of a network for supporting continuous innovation, spanning the product management and R&D department of a large multinational company. The results argue for the importance of the creation of a support structure as one layer within the network in order to uphold the development and evolvement of the network over time through support with competence development and influence the network through different kinds of subtle management techniques. Moreover, the paper argues for the importance of invoking organizational pressure for innovation outcome.

A vast number of studies analyze the effects of obstacles to innovation but often neglect the operational level in the organizational hierarchies, although this level is known to power innovation. This study explores how the operative level and first-level managers in two large R&D organizations perceive innovation obstacles. Beyond investigating the mere frequency of the obstacle, we also study their effect on employees’ innovation self-efficacy. While time-related obstacles are the most frequently identified ones at both firms, they are not significantly related to a decrease in innovation self-efficacy. Instead we find that obstacles referring to organizational culture, goals and strategies, as well as project portfolio management, are significantly related to lower levels of innovation self-efficacy.

The aim of this paper was to explore approaches used by companies to support idea development. This is of interest because creative ideas meet more resistance and reluctance towards their implementation and idea development can improve the quality of an idea and thereby increase the ideas chance of adoption. Despite this, little research has focused on ways a company can go about supporting idea development. An exploratory approach was chosen in order to gather information about companies’ ways of working. Respondents from seven companies were interviewed, and two different views of idea development were identified: either as a way to propel an idea forward, or as a prerequisite for good decision-making. Also three constituting elements of idea development were identified (i.e. conceptualization, contextualization and co-evolution) and supporting mechanisms used by companies to target each of them is listed. These constituting elements of idea development are believed to be valuable to both practice and theory as they provide a valuable framework and capture the challenge of idea development in practice.

Innovation occurs only when an idea is put into practice. At the same time, R&D teams today experience increased time pressure, and creative ideas are likely to generate reluctance about their implementation. Consequently, there is a risk that novel ideas in projects do not receive the attention they need to mature enough to be selected for implementation. The aim of this paper is to expand our understanding of how idea maturity relates to idea selection in projects. To empirically explore this topic, data from five different R&D project teams engaged in idea development activities were collected via semi-structured interviews. Results indicate that idea maturity is situated at the interface between idea refinement and idea screening, as the construct incorporates both the refinement of the idea and contextual issues. Idea maturity is also shown to be a relative measure in that it is assessed by comparison to other ideas or existing products. Further, the frame of the project influences the maturity of ideas under development. For example, a shift in requirements for a project can reduce the maturity of an idea, highlighting a dynamic component in idea development.

Recent developments within the field of innovation management have stressed the influence of emotions during idea development. This is important since emotions influence the way people act, and when it comes to ideas, emotions may even constitute the driving force that propels the development of an idea forward. This paper aims to add to this research trajectory by focusing on the emotional aspects in idea development. More specifically, this paper investigates the research question: How do belief and associated biases influence idea development? To empirically explore this topic, data from five different R&D project teams engaged in idea development activities was collected via semi-structured interviews. Results from the study show that numerous biases exist in the vicinity of idea development activities. Further, the identified biases were in many cases influenced in opposing ways (i.e., either favoring or opposing the development of an idea). Finally, biases pertained to three different areas with the result that three distinct tensions were identified. The first tension, denoted the “Positive Illusions” Tension, relates to the belief in the idea and resulting framing issues. This tension also appears to be particularly tricky since it includes a self-reinforcing component. The second tension—the Newness Tension—concerns the newness of the idea and a struggle between escalation of commitment and self-preservation mechanisms. The final tension—the Ownership Tension—relates to the perceived ownership of the idea, and how it can shift over time. Ultimately, the presence of belief and associated biases in idea development seems inevitable. However, the influence they have appears to be a balancing act between removing biases and maintaining the motivation of the actors involved. Managing this balancing act appears to be particularly important when it involves ideas that are creative or uncomfortable, i.e., in innovative situations. Managers are encouraged to make use of an outside perspective, pay special attention to ideas that fit into the tension areas identified, avoid an overly strong reality check for immature ideas, and finally “boost” the development of those ideas that risk too little attention from the team.

An often neglected topic in idea management research is the continuity and stability of current idea management practices. This study addresses this topic by following a hand-over of ideas from a project to the line organization in a company. Moreover, idea portfolios are proposed and empirically explored as a means of managing and further developing these ideas. This particular idea-capturing scheme is believed to incorporate both codification and personalization approaches in the management of ideas. Twenty-one (21) semi-structured interviews, as well as observations, were conducted during a year, both before and during the implementation of idea portfolios at the company. Results from the study show the importance of considering the recipient of a codification effort in order for codification to become a constructive element rather than a barrier. Another finding is that different stages of maturity and levels of activity should be handled when managing ideas. Therefore, an idea portfolio is something of a hybrid between an idea bank and a register of on-going activities. Managing ideas in a transparent way was also shown to have its pros and cons. Increased transparency can both provide enhanced legitimacy for working with an idea, and increase the accountability of an idea, and can therefore be perceived as an obstacle. Finally, the shared responsibility of an idea that is the consequence of working with an idea portfolio can make the line manager something of an “accomplice”. This in turn helps in propelling the development of the idea forward.

This thesis aims to encourage the realization of innovations through supporting individuals involved in idea development activities, within or related to R&D projects. This is of interest because R&D projects have become fundamental units for achieving innovation, particularly in large companies, and innovations require the implementation of creative ideas. However, creative ideas meet more resistance and reluctance about their implementation, compared to their non-creative counterparts. As idea development can help to enhance the quality of an idea and thereby increase its chances of adoption, idea development consequently constitutes an important but often neglected part of innovation. The purpose of this research is therefore to investigate and understand idea development in product development, and to elaborate on how to manage this aspect of the innovation process. Drawing upon data from numerous R&D projects within the Sandvik Group, a questionnaire administered in two large companies, and interviews with individuals involved in innovation management activities in seven different companies, some findings have been made. First, action is necessary to turn ideas into innovations. However, actions by other individuals involved in the innovation process can also constitute obstacles to innovations. In turn, this type of obstacles seem to have more effect compared to more frequently mentioned obstacles like resource allocation and structures & systems. Second, emotions play a major role in idea development. For example, biases identified in idea development activities has been found to create tensions experienced by involved actors as they influence the development of an idea in opposing directions. The presence of such tensions seems particularly strong in relation to the newness, ownership, transparency, and belief of an idea. Third, it is essential to pay attention to ideas as this will enhance legitimacy for working with ideas and innovations. One way to accomplish this, and also to create evolutionary pressure for an idea, is to incorporate an extra dimension of personalisation into idea management practices in companies, i.e. a shared responsibility for ideas. Ideas cannot and should not be harvested. In contrast, this thesis argues for that ideas can and should be nurtured so that innovations can be harvested. The findings made, and the implications they have, are believed to support this endeavour in large companies focusing on product development in mature markets.

Obstacles to innovation often deter or reduce the innovative force within organisations and thereby constitute an important challenge for managers. A vast number of studies analyse the effects of obstacles to innovation but often neglect the individual perspective. This study explores how the operative level and first-level managers in two large R&D organisations perceive innovation obstacles. Moreover, a distinction between the frequency and the effect of obstacles is made by looking not only at which obstacles that are most commonly identified but also linking obstacles to the employees’ innovation self-efficacy. The results reveal that while time-related obstacles are the most frequently identified in both firms, they are not significantly related to a decrease in innovation self-efficacy. In contrast, obstacles referring to organisational culture, failure to set appropriate goals and strategies, as well as poor project portfolio management are significantly connected to lower levels of innovation self-efficacy. The results however differ between the firms and these findings and their implications for theory and practice are discussed in the light of the special characteristics of the two firms.

In an ongoing development project there is a risk that promising ideas are rejected due to time constraints. Given that ideas are the carriers of innovation, and that novel and radical ideas are, to a greater extent, exposed to rejections and resistance than more conservative, those ideas, previously rejected from projects, could be seen as a potential goldmine of innovations. The aim of this paper is to explore the ‘life’ of rejected ideas following the completion of design projects. An exploratory approach was chosen in order to gather information about companies’ ways of working with rejected ideas. Respondents from seven companies were interviewed, and two main routes for managing rejected ideas became apparent: codification and personalisation. All participating companies had some sort of codification approach, but this was always complemented by a personalisation approach, whether implicit or explicitly stated. This is important as an idea management system is unable to fully carry an idea forward as it lacks intent, insight, and argumentation. Furthermore, responsibility for rejected ideas and maturity of ideas both seem to affect the processing of rejected ideas

The ability to introduce new products and services, i.e. innovations, is regarded as a critical source of competitive advantage, and just as important as before. At the same time, development lead times have been reduced in order to allow a faster time to market. Companies’ strive for innovation, while at the same time reducing product development lead times, will in turn influence how designers and design teams work. Therefore, major challenge, especially for mature companies in established markets, is to have effective ways for the team to continuously accomplish innovations. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how teams work in R&D projects, and particularly how they conduct innovative tasks. The research outlined in this thesis has therefore been guided by two research questions: How do design teams overcome a lack of knowledge when working with new ideas? And, how is knowledge acquired and shared in innovation activities? This research is based on an action research approach. Data is mainly from Sandvik Coromant, a global company that manufactures tools and systems for the metal cutting industry. The company is part of a large engineering group (Sandvik Group) that also manufactures equipment for mining and construction as well as advanced materials. Empirical data was collected mainly through interviews and a survey. To understand the background of innovations, an initial descriptive study, including recipients from award-winning innovative projects from the engineering group, was conducted. The study was later expanded to include more projects and study what type of knowledge was lacking, as well as how the resulting uncertainty was mitigated. Additional studies concerns how engineers use engineering knowledge models for innovation, and organizational factors that can either support or inhibit the sharing of knowledge. Since, innovation is a collaborative effort that takes place in organizations; knowledge is of little use to innovation if it is not shared with others. Findings highlight that neither trust, i.e. handling conflicts and opposing views openly, nor the existence of power and territorial struggles or lack of time significantly affect knowledge sharing. However, important knowledge sharing predecessors are affected by lack of time and how long employees have been employed. Further, new ideas are surrounded by uncertainty, because knowledge concerning if the idea will actually make a difference or not is lacking. To overcome this uncertainty (perceived lack of knowledge) several areas were explored simultaneously, i.e. market, needs and requirements as well as possible solutions. This non-consecutive process is not easy to map into a sequential process model. Hence, a circular model, providing a mean to explain and map these activities, has been proposed.

To pursue understanding of governing principles, observations of phenomena and simulation of processes instead of relying purely on trial-and-error, is becoming more and more important in product development activities. This suggests that use of engineering knowledge models is an important part of future innovations. The purpose of this study is therefore to gain insight into the development and use of engineering knowledge models in the innovation process. Based on interviews with originators of such models within a manufacturing company this descriptive study emphasizes the following aspects: the ambivalent aspect of reuse, multi-use of existing models and increased interactivity provided by engineering knowledge models.

This paper is based on a descriptive study of two types of innovation awards within a manufacturing company. The purpose is to identify sources and understand the background of these awarded innovations. An industrial view of the concept innovation is of importance in order to support future product development processes. Based on the interviews of several team members in awarded innovation projects, some aspects can be emphasized: the importance of the exploration and knowledge acquisition phase, importance of external triggers and that innovation is not a linear process.